Mechanical cleaner for dragline buckets and the like



March 21, 1950 J. w. AISTHORPE MECHANICALCLEANER FOR DRAGLINE BUCKETS AND THE LIKE Filed Aprii 25, 1946 I5 3. 29 INVENTOR. Jmhn \MAmthmlpe 38 25 37 BY Q/ 40 I I ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UNITED MECHAii'iAL Fo'ft iiRAGLiNE BUCKETS AND THE LIKE John Winston Aisthorpe, Winslow, Incl. Ashlie-mien April 23, 1946'; erial Nel- 564,263

2 Claims. (01.37 135) This invention relates to mechanical means for mechanically loosening material adhering to the scoops,- buckets, shovels and the like of ereavat-- ing and similar equipment and machinery. One eiiample of equipment to which the invention is applicable is a dragline bucket.-

An important object of the" invention is to provide means for this purpose which will loosen adhering earth, clay and the like from the entire material-receiving surface of the bottom of a bucket, scoop, shovel or the like (which will hereafter be termed bucket to include all such de vices), both during the scooping and just after the dumping movements of the bucket, and will also loosen such matter adhering" to the material receiving surface of the bucket, just subsequent to the dumping movement thereof.

Another important object is toprovide such loosening means which functions in two ways- With respect to the bottom or bowl of the bucket That is, there is a securing action during the scor'ipi'ngmovement and a jarring action just s'i1b= sequent to the dumping action. This eer npeund mov'emem; is important,- since iiiu'd an the like may freeze quickly, in 66161 weather; to the bucket; but such frozen mud win be readily jarred ieese by the novel means" disclosed.- I

Still another important object is to provide a dislodger of matter adhering to buckets which, while ada ted to scour the material eeeivmg surfaces or faces" of the bbtto-n'i of buckets, will not be apt to wear any defin d" ro'eves" in such faces, since theymevements' of the disio'dg'er are so varied; that there is opportunity for resui'ar, defined paths to be taken by the disiodeer partsduring their. mevements'.

A major object is" to provide a dislodger as described which is adapted to be attached to dragline buckets and similar devices, having bottom or material-receiving faces of various contours, and will conform to such contours during the scouring action.

Another major object is to provide such a dislodger which is readily attached to buckets, without major alterations in the buckets;

Qther objects and advantages er the invention win be apparent during the ourse of the following detailed descriptionof the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a partof this specification and which drawing Figure 1 is a vertical section through a conventional dragline bucket with the novel dislodger attached thereto.

2 is a top plan ef the bueket of Figure 1 and of the dislodge'r.

Figure 3 is an elevation of a means for attah ing the dislodgei' to a bucket 6r the like. Inthe drawing, wherein for the purpose of lustr'a'tion is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein similar reference char actis designate corresponding parts throughout the several views the letter A designates a bucket, manipulated by means B; with the bucket 'A equipped with the dislodger C.

By way of example, the bucket A is shown as a Conventional dragline bucket, having a body portion I0 including a normally upwardly and rearwardly inclinedback wall H defining a rear ward end of the body portion, a bottom wall I! joined to the backwall H by a curved intermedi= ate wall t3, and a downwardly inclined lip M at the forwardend of the bottom wall I2, all de= fining :the bucket b'ottorri,- having an upper or material-receiving face IS. The body portion l0 also includes substantially alike side walls l6 extendingfrom and joined to the walls H,- I! and I3 and lip l4. Forwardly of the lip M are a row of forwardly-projecting teeth- [1. Extending upwardly from the forward end (being the" end nearest the lip l4) of the side walls [6 is an inverted U=s=haped bracket l8. v

The means B formanipulating the device A in; cludes a dump line or cable l9 which is securedto the bight of the bracket l8 and extends over the body portion H1,- and re'arwardly to apulley 20; from which it extends to a convenient place for operation thereof. A pair of chains 2| tilt: ably support the body portion l-B, being secured to the outer faces of the side walls l5 and are attached to a convenientportion of the apparatus (not shewn) or which the device A forms a part. The connections of the chains 2| to the walls l6 are such that the body portion is normally inc-lined to tip forwardly with the teeth I! downwardly, but the position of the body portion ll is,-- of course; governed by the dump line as is apparent and well known in the art.

As for the novel dislodger' (3' this comprises a plurality of lengths 25* 0t flexible material, a: rigid cross memberor link 26 connecting certain of the" lengths 2-5',-!a flexible cross member 2'! connecting? the" lengths 25 intermediate their ends, a secondflexible cross member 28 connecting the lengths" at their rearward ends"; and means 2-9 to securenected links 3!], with each length 25 preferably of about the same overall length and each length 25 having a forward end 3| and rearward end 32. The lengths 25 are normally spaced apart and in substantial parallelism. Preferably the material of the links is iron, steel, or iron containing alloys.

Referring to the rigid cross member or link 26 it is, preferably, of metal, such as iron, steel, or suitable alloys and extends from one intermediate (or one of the two innermost) length 25 to the other intermediate (or other of the innermost) length 25 and may be connected thereto as by the eyes 33. It connects these specific lengths 25 preferably at their forward ends 1".

The flexible cross member 21 may be of chain, like that of the lengths 25 and is connected, as

by certain of its links 34 to the adjacent links 28 is disposed at the ends 32 of the lengths and secured thereto, as by certain of the links of the member 28.

A means 29 to secure the assembly 25-28 to the bucket A, is shown, by way of example, in Figure 3, and includes an eye 36 of inverted U- shape, with its legs secured to a perforated base plate 3'1, through the perforations of which and through perforations 39, which may be drilled in the wall II of the bucket A, extend screw threaded bolts, having suitable nuts 40, for detachably securing the assembly 36 and 31 to the wall II. It will be noted in Figure 1 that the means 29 are positioned, preferably, closely ad- Y jacent the uppermost edge of the wall II and that the lengths 25 extend therefrom to the lip Id of the bucket A.

The action of the novel dislodger C is as fol lows: At the start, as the bucket is about to be manipulated, as is well known in the art, to scoop up materials the dislodger C will be positioned substantially as in Figures 1 and 2 but, as the material begins to fill the bucket (moving from the forward edge thereof toward the back wall i i, the material will cause the lengths 25 together with the cross members 26 and 21 to move rearwardly. The paths taken by theselengths will be extremely varied, but their travel will tend to cause the links thereof to scrape over the inner or upper surface I5 of the bucket bottom and loosen the material adhering thereto. members 26 and 2'! will also tend to scrape this same surface, over various areas thereof.

As the bucket fills, the lengths 25 and cross members 25 and 21 come to rest, mainly upon the inner face of the rear wall I I. However, when the bucket is tilted, by the well known means I9, 20 and 2I, the material will be discharged and the lengths 25, suddenly released, will tend to first fly or move outwardly of the walls Ii, I2 and I3, straighten out and then, as their outward movement is overcome by gravity, will contact these walls with considerable force. At the same time, the cross member 28 will vibrate, due to the motions of the attached lengths 25, and tend to dislodge any material adhering to the 0 uppermost end of the wall II of the bucket A.

The cross In fact, before the bucket A is again tightened for another scooping operation, the lengths 25 and cross members 26 and 21 will strike the walls II, I2 and I3 several times, thus dislodging (by impact and vibration) material adhering to these walls (either the inner or upper surface I5 or to the lower or outer surface of the bucket bottom).

The cross member 26 not only prevents entangling of the innermost of the lengths 25 but it also prevents these lengths from becoming entangled with the dump line I9, as the lengths 25 fly upwardly.

The cross member 21 tends to prevent the lengths 25 from entangling, aids in scouring and tends to return the lengths 25 to parallelism.

Various changes may be made to the form of the invention herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an adhering material-dislodger for an excavating machine bucket having a materialreceiving surface, a plurality of lengths of flexible material constructed and arranged to lie upon the material-receiving surface of said bucket and to normally extend, in substantial parallelism from the forward end to the rearward end of said bucket, a cross member of rigid material, connecting two of said lengths at their fforward ends, said lengths at their forward ends and said cross member being free of attachment 'to said bucket, a cross member of flexible material connecting said lengths of material at points spaced from their forward ends, and means connecting the rearward ends of said lengths to the rearward end of said bucket.

2. In an earth dislodger and surface scourer for a bucket of an excavating machine, a plurality of lengths of chain, including outermost lengths and innermost lengths, with all of such lengths normally spaced apart and disposed in parallelism, each length having a forward end and a rearward end; a link of rigid material connecting the forward ends of the innermost lengths; a cross chain connecting all of the lengths intermediate their ends; a cross chain connecting all of the lengths at their rearward ends; and means for securing the rearward ends of only the outermost chains to the rearward end of said bucket with the chains disposed upon the material-receiving surface of said bucket, the forward ends of said lengths being free of attachment to said bucket, and the intermediate links of said last-named cross chain being free of attachment to said bucket.

JOHN WINSTON AISIHORPE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent! UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 885,049 vHolcomb Apr. 21, 1908 990,232 Cross Apr. 25, v1911 1,805,489 Kerr et al. May 19, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 78,234 Germany Nov. 29, 1894 

